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IFBC 2015 Part 1: Sansaire Excursion

After missing out on last year’s International Food Bloggers Conference, I was very excited for the opportunity to attend this year’s IFBC 2015 in Seattle. In addition to looking forward to a great lineup of events and speakers all weekend, many food bloggers signed up for the Friday afternoon off-site excursions with food focused local businesses. As soon as I read the description of the excursions, one word caught my eye — sous vide, and immediately I signed up for the excursion at Sansaire.

As a long time fan of chefs such as Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal, I had always wanted to learn more about molecular gastronomy, or the scientific aspects of cooking, specially sous vide, and this excursion and hands on demo at Sansaire was perfect for that. Hidden in a brick building in Seattle’s industrial district, it felt like we were in secret cooking lab. There were kitchen islands, cutting boards, sinks, and a refrigerator, but there was something missing. Where was the cooking top. No gas range? No induction plates? That’s because all the cooking was being done by the sous vide machines — cylindrical units, each about the size of a large thermos, immersed in constant temperature water baths with meat, corn, or chicken sealed in plastic bags.

But before the demo began, the co-founder of Sansaire addressed the group with a very important question — would you like red wine, or white wine? While we were enjoying our drinks, Scott explained the science behind sous vide and we tasted an appetizer of slow cooked soft eggs. Then he used a hand torch to sear chicken that had been cooked sous vide. Now it was our turn to sear the chicken, corn on the cob, jalapeños, and tortillas in order to assemble our first dish — chicken tacos, paired with white wine, of course. The rest of the afternoon, we continued to work in small groups, taking photos of searing meat, asking questions, enjoying more wine, and finishing off with dessert — all a great way to make new foodie friends.

Besides learning more about sous vide and connecting with other food bloggers, meeting the Sansaire employees at this excursion was truly inspirational. They are a small company, with a great product, and their passion for food and cooking really comes through. Thanks to them, I can’t wait to try cooking sous vide in my kitchen, and have already started brainstorming on which Peruvian dishes to modify and cook sous vide. Will it be a beef dish or lamb stew cooked sous vide? Or maybe a manjar blanco caramel that is slowed cooked to a perfectly sweet creaminess? What about Pisco cocktails? Will Pisco be infused with the flavors of a stone fruit? Stay tuned for sous vide recipes coming soon to Pisco Trail — cheers!

DISCLAIMER

As an active food blogger, I was eligible for a discount during conference registration and in exchange I promised to write 3 blog posts on a subject of my choice related to IFBC 2015. This is the first of 3 posts about my weekend adventures at IFBC 2015 in Seattle.